PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - Jan 29

Reuters Staff

3 Min Read

Jan 29 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories in the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

* U.S. authorities are pushing for a settlement of interest-rate-rigging allegations with Royal Bank of Scotland that would result in a unit of the big British bank pleading guilty to criminal charges in addition to paying a penalty.

* The United States signed an agreement Monday with the West African country of Niger that clears the way for a stepped-up American military presence on the edges of the conflict in neighboring Mali.

* Toyota Motor Corp reclaimed the title of world’s largest automaker in 2012 from General Motors rebounding from an earthquake that damaged its factories and embarrassing recalls that dinged its reputation.

* Trian Fund Management LP, founded by activist investor Nelson Peltz, has partially sold its stake in State Street Corp , according to people familiar with the decision.

* Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc participated in discussions to purchase NYSE Euronext, owner of the Big Board, according to people familiar with the talks. Ultimately, the two sides didn’t agree on price, one of the people said.

* The U.S. Treasury failed to rein in pay at companies that received federal bailout funds, a watchdog said Monday, in a report that highlights continued friction over the government’s oversight of executive pay at companies such as General Motors Co and Ally Financial Inc.

* Law-enforcement authorities have conducted a wide-ranging investigation into whether media companies facilitated insider trading on Wall Street by prematurely releasing market-moving government data, according to people familiar with the probe.

* Caterpillar Inc Chief Executive Doug Oberhelman on Monday blamed a $580 million write-down in the value of a Chinese company acquired last year on accounting “misconduct” by several former senior managers there who “fabricated documentation to cover their tracks.”

* In the first case of its type, U.S. authorities have arrested a former senior trader at Jefferies & Co Inc, accusing him of defrauding investors in the mortgage-backed securities market, which had come to a standstill during the financial crisis.